SCET Journal 2020

Prompting

Critical Thinking

Critiquing Truth in a Post-Truth World: Navigating Content Online

Deidre M Clary

Young people are exposed to an online world where the distribution of large volumes of misinformation online has become a “subtle yet powerful art” (Orlando, 2017, paragraph 5). In their professional and personal lives, our youth frequent online spaces that require critical thinking skills and knowledge in verifying what is true and what is not. This includes knowledge of the rules and restrictions imposed by many social media sites on the spread of fake news. How knowledge is gathered, constructed, and shared demands an ability to think more critically than ever before (Clary & Ban- nister-Tyrell, 2018). To thrive, and not just survive, in an increasingly complicated online environment demands equipping young people with requisite skills to filter information: to interpret, apply logical reasoning and critique bodies of online content. None of us is immune from the circulation of fake news and misinformation. The ability to identify the trustworthiness of information affects us all. The vol- ume of material online and the speed at which it travels has made this task even more challenging. Worryingly, more people access news more quickly through social media “than what good old-fashioned viral emails could accomplish in years past” (Kiely & Robertson, 2016, paragraph 1). Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are geared to project compelling and subliminal messages and content, including politi- cal advertising. Facebook is a case in point. The social network has been accused of “spreading hateful, distorted and demonstrably false information” (Halpern, 2019, para- graph 2). In its defense, Facebook claims it is “merely a neutral platform, unmoored from the content it carries” (paragraph 2). Yet, when asked to remove a political ad containing false claims, the network refused. Facebook maintained its belief in “free expression, respect for the democratic process and … that, in mature democra- cies with a free press, political speech is already argu- ably the most scrutinized speech there is” (paragraph 1). Reporting on the case, Halpern (2019) alleged that spreading untruths “promoted by algorithms created to maximize ad revenue is a deceptive accounting of the ‘free’ in “free speech” (paragraph 8). Circulating untruths or fake news is not new. Its

roots can be traced to political satire, fiction, and ruses to deceive readers and viewers into believing news is real. Very quickly, fake news has achieved a high level of sophistication “often presented on a site designed to look (sort of) like a legitimate news organization” (Kiely & Robertson, 2016, paragraph 7). For example, algorithms and bots (automated accounts, rather than real people) produce huge amounts of online content, capable of responding to trends in posts and searches for the purpose of promoting more personalized and targeted content and advertising (Glance, 2016). The influx of information sources online causes users to “rely on social cues in order to determine the credibility of information and to shape their be- liefs, which are in turn extremely difficult to correct or change” (Lazer, 2017, p. 3). Fake news, for example, continues to exercise its power to codify prejudices, to inculcate a belief in us-versus-them and, in few cases, to condone and promote violence. Although small in number, Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter cur- rently have a monopoly on the spread of misinforma- tion, thereby posing a “challenge for real-time detection algorithms” (Lazer, 2017, p. 3). As researchers focus more on socio-technical interventions to minimize the effects of misinformation on individuals, they are resolved to identifying “necessary ingredients for infor- mation systems that can encourage a culture of truth” (Lazer et al., 2017, p. 3). What is “Truth?” The Australian literacy researcher, Alan Luke (2012), asks: “What is ‘truth?’ How is it presented and repre- sented, by whom, and in whose interests? Who should have access to which images and words, texts, and discourses? For what purpose?” (p. 1). Information and knowledge is socially constructed and loaded with power inequalities. From a critical literacy standpoint, a text is used to analyze, critique, challenge, and change power relations in traditional sociopolitical environ- ments where the pursuit of truth is stifled by “autocratic control of information:” Wherever textual access, critique, and interpreta- tion are closed down, whether via corporate or state or religious control of the press, of the Internet, of

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